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Walking through the streets of San Francisco made me realize a couple of things: I live in a bubble (a happy one) and my clothes are boring. I’m a mom of two small kids. I’m lucky if I get my make-up on! But walking the streets of SF in even my handmade clothes made me realize that I often put together boring outfits. Even when I take the time to get ready.

To remedy this, I just need to make myself non-boring accessories. It’ll at least help. I want to be cool like my friend Mim, so I made a zippered purse/pouch just like hers.

Not boring, but certainly not as creative since I copied her design. But I made it, so that’s something. And I matched the leather and fabric together. Oh, the leather. . . Mmmmm. It’s so soft. I wish you could feel it. Like butter.

It’s a small bag, perfect for girls’ nights and nights out with my man. I’m thinking this will be perfect for my upcoming Sewing Summit conference in September. I can’t wait for Sewing Summit.

I’m excited about the leather details and the colorful print. It won’t match everything in my wardrobe, but it will certainly add a pop of interesting to it.

I used legit top-stitch thread (and needle) for the first time. It looks so much more professional with that small detail.

My friend hosts a yearly Valentine’s exchange that’s amazing. I did leather bobby pins last year, so I had to do something at least as cool this year. And in true Melissa fashion, I wait until the night before to construct all 12 of them.

Since I did everything at the last minute, I didn’t have enough supplies to do the same thing 12 times, so I had to get creative. I had originally planned on painting 12 paintings, but that obviously didn’t happen, so I opted for earrings. Then I realized I didn’t have enough earring posts to make 12 pairs of earrings. Thankfully I had enough rings and pins to make up for my lack of planning.

Here’s what I did, I busted out my letterpress machine (for the second time), used two plates I had on hand and the paper I had on hand. It worked out perfectly. I had tiny envelopes and fold over cards that I ended up cutting in half. I printed the little details in no time (clean up was another story, but lessons learned). I hand-lettered Be Mine on the envelopes; again for lack of any other clever phrase.

I had a lot of this grey stretchy elastic, so I made 12 elastic hair ties. These things are cute and effortless to make (tutorials: 1, 2, 3 or purchase: 1, 2, 3, 4)

I also have a TON of pretty grey patent leather (like 1/3 of a cow’s worth), so I made a few accessories with it. Above, I made a little bow tie or pin.

I made a set of “jewel” earrings.

And I made a couple of rings.

They were really easy. I just cut out jagged shapes , then connected the corners with black sharpie marker. Ghetto, maybe. Adorable, definitely. I made sure I had extras so I could keep them for myself. Felix will look dapper with his bow tie on Sunday.

In other news, a couple of days ago, my sister texted me asking what my Valentine’s plans were. Then she offered to come to my house and watch my kids so Chris and I could go out and have a special night. Of course I promptly texted Chris: “Emily is watching the kids for Valentine’s day. You better plan a hot date, expectations will be high.” So they’re really not that high, but I sure hope he gets me a flower or two and makes me a Valentine. I love his Valentines: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Back in January as I was surfing my favorite blogs, I came across this post on Ultra Vroom about cardigans and fabric necklaces. I instantly fell in love and had to have a fabric necklace for my very own. I week or so later I remembered the large stash of white jersey hanging around the basement and hap-hazardly made my own version of Annie‘s fabric necklace.

If I remember correctly, I wore that necklace for 4 days in a row. I didn’t really take it off until Penelope bumped her mouth on the table and bled all over me (Penelope is ok, BTW). It was with much sorrow that I parted with the necklace long enough to launder it.

I love my necklace so much, I’ve been wanting to share it with you for sometime, but haven’t worked on the tutorial until just now. Here it is! I hope you like it.

Materials:

1 XXL or XXXL men’s t-shirt

Scissors and/or rotary cutter

Sewing machine and or needle & thread

Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Cut 9 2-inch strips out of the shirt.

Cut open one end of each strip. Stretch the jersey through your hands to allow the fabric to curl inside itself. Group strips into threes.

Sew coiled ends together. Secure the end to a stationary object (like a couch) with a safety pin. Start braiding. I find that a tight braid looks nice, but avoid pulling and stretching the fabric.

Once finished braiding, sew ends together to make three separate rings of fabric.

Cut a 5 x 7 inch square of fabric from the remainder of the shirt, fold it over the three braids and sew. Sew the tube as close to the braids as possible for a snug fit. Trim excess fabric. Turn right side out.

Voila! Your necklace is complete. Twist, and double over and you’re ready to rock and roll!

If you twist the loop twice before doubling over, the necklace looks like this (above).

Twist the necklace once before doubling over and pull some loops longer to have a cowl neckline (above).

So there you have it, in less than 15 minutes you can have a really rad fabric necklace ’round your neck. Hope you give it a try! Happy Weekend, All!